Belt buckle



June 19, 1956 l. RUBIN 2,750,643

BELT BUCKLE Filed Jan. 22, 1952 INVENTOR.

ffffdIA/IYS United States Patent BELT BUCKLE Irving Rubin, Bronx, N. Y.

Application January 22, 1952, Serial No. 267,631

4 Claims. (Cl. 24-166) My present invention relates primarily to a belt buckle so arranged that an ornamental bar appears at the center of the buckle when the buckle is closed.

In addition, my invention relates to a belt buckle in which the ornamental bar is formed by the tongue of the buckle but wherein the belt is permanently secured or hingedly attached to the end of the buckle opposite the hinged securement of the tongue.

My invention is further characterized by the provision of a spring clip arrangement or locking structure whereby the tongue or ornamental bar is locked in position. This is achieved by arranging the belt buckleso that a portion thereof is bent up at the end opposite the hinged connection of the tongue to the buckle and an opening or other element is provided at the free end of the tongue to engage the bent up member in a resilient locking manner to produce a positive novel closing structure and pleasing ornamental eifect.

Thus, the primary object of my invention is the provision of a novel and positive locking belt buckle having a tongue which forms an ornamental bar, the belt buckle being hingedly connected to the belt at the end opposite the hinged connection of the tongue to the buckle and the buckle providing a locking member at the section thereof which is connected to the belt itself, together with complementary means on the tongue resiliently engaging the locking member.

The foregoing and many other objects of my invention will become apparent in the following description and drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of my novel buckle.

Figure 2 is a side view of my novel buckle.

Figure 3 is an end view of my novel buckle taken from line 3--3 of Figure 2 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 4 is a top view of my novel buckle used in connection with a belt.

Figure 5 is a side view of my novel buckle used in connection with a belt.

Figure 6 is a top plan view of a modified form of my novel buckle.

Figure 7 is an end view of the buckle of Figure 6.

Referring to the figures, my novel buckle comprises a principal body member 10 which comprises a rod or wire bent to form the horizontal members 11 and 12 of the buckle and the vertical elements 13 and 14 of the buckle. My buckle can, of course, also be stamped from metal or other material or molded from appropriate material or otherwise formed.

In the instance shown, the buckle, as above pointed out, is a relatively heavy frame having an end 15 and element 14a forming part of the vertical section 14 of the buckle, a bend 16 connecting horizontal section 11 to element 14a of the buckle, a bend 17 connecting element 11 to element 13 of the buckle, a bend 18 connecting element 13 to 2,750,643 Patented June 19, 1956 element 12 of the buckle and bend 19 connecting element 12 to element 14a of the buckle.

All of the elements 14, 14a, 11, 13, and 12 are (while not in a single plane) arranged to follow substantially a plane which has been bent into a regular curve as shown in Figures 2 and 5.

The nature of this curve Will hereinafter be described. However, the locking element 20 is bent up out of this plane as shown in Figures 2 and 5 at the bend 21 between element 14a and element 20.

The locking element 20 is resilient in that it may give either at the bend 21 or by a slight twisting of element 14a around its bend 19 in order that it may have the necessary compliance to interengage with the tongue of the buckle.

The element 13 of the buckle is provided with the auxiliary bend 13a which in turn serves as a hinge pin for the tongue 25 of the buckle. The tongue 25 is preferably a bar bent at end 26 to form a hinge engaging element 13d of the buckle around which it may swing.

Section 27 of the bar extends outwardly from the buckle and then is bent at 28 to form the principal buckle section 25 which extends substantially parallel to the buckle. The end of the tongue 25 opposite the hinged end is provided with the complementary locking opening 30 adapted to receive the locking bar 20.

When the buckle is closed as shown in Figure 5, the locking bar 20 engages opening 36 to hold the tongue in position. The locking bar 20 is resilient, however, as previously described and as indicated in Figure 2 so that the tongue 25 may be released and swung to an open position.

As shown in Figures 4 and 5, contrary to the usual construction expected in belt buckles, the belt 40 is connected not to the end of the buckle to which the tongue is hinged but to the opposite end 14 which carries the bar 20. That is, the belt'40 is bent around section 14 of the buckle and the free end 41 is secured to the belt 40 to form the loop 42 hingedly or swingingly secured on the section 14 of the buckle.

The belt 40 is provided with a slot 44 at the loop 42 through which the locking bar 20 may be made accessible through the belt. The end section 50 of the belt opposite its connection to the buckle is provided with a series of openings 51, 52, 53, 54 and as many additional openings as the expected requirements of adjustability of the belt may make necessary.

When the belt is slipped around the waist, the free end of the belt 50 is then slipped over the tongue 25 without being threaded through the buckle itself. That is, as shown in Figures 4 and 5, a slot 54 is slipped over the tongue. The tongue is then swung down toward closed position. The movement of the tongue 25 to closed position shifts the slot 54 to the bend 28 of the tongue.

The spacing between slots at end 50 of the belt is such that when a slot 54 is moved over to bend 28 of the tongue, the slot 52 is positioned so that it slips over the locking bar 20.

The movement of the tongue down so that the opening 30 engages the locking bar 20 which is accessible through slot 52 locks the tongue 25 in position and provides a positive and secure retainer for the belt buckle.

Thus, the slots 52 and 54 must be spaced so that whenever one of the slots is at the section 28 of the tongue 25, another slot will be positioned over the locking member 20.

The intermediate slot 53 is provided so that adjustability of the belt need not necessarily be limited to increments equal in length to the distance between locking member 29 and bend 28, but the slots must be spaced so that whenever a slot is positioned at bend 28 of the tongue 25 another slot is positioned over and receives the locking memher 20. Since the locking member 20 is resilient and bears tightly against the interior opening 30, no special detent means are required, but the use of such special detent means on the locking member 20 will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

In Figures 6 and 7 I have shown a modified form of buckle wherein, instead of the single locking bar 20 and opening 30, a double bar 20a is provided to engage the sides of the tongue 25. Recesses 60 may be provided in the inner surfaces of bars 20a to retain the tongue 25 if required. While the frame is shown as substantially rectangular, it may be round or oval or have any other appropriate shape.

In the foregoing I have described my invention solely in connection with specific illustrative embodiments thereof. Since many variations and modifications of my invention will now be obvious to those skilled in the art, I prefer to be bound not by the specific disclosures herein contained but only by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A belt buckle comprising a frame; a flexible arcuate tongue hingedly mounted on one run of said frame; a locking pin extending at an angle to said frame from an opposite run of said frame; an aperture in the tongue adjacent the free end of said tongue and engageable With said locking pin, said pin and aperture being brought into axial registry by depressing and slightly flattening the arcuateness of said tongue.

2. In combination, a belt buckle and a belt therefor, said belt buckle comprising a frame; a tongue hingedly mounted on one run of said frame; a locking member eX- tending at an angle to said frame from an opposite run of said frame; a complementary locking member adjacent the free end of said tongue and engageable With said frame locking member; and a belt having a loop hingedly mounted on said opposite run of said frame; said locking member on said frame comprising a bar extending resiliently from said frame; said locking member on said tongue comprising an opening in said tongue positioned to receive said bar; said tongue having a bend adjacent the hingedly mounted portion thereof; said belt having at least a pair of slots spaced apart by the distance between said bend in the tongue and said locking bar, said tongue passing through one of said slots to grip said belt at said bend, said bar passing through the other of said slots and thence into the opening of said tongue.

3. A buckle as set forth in claim 1, said frame being formed of a single rod-like member bent into a substantially rectangular shape, the ends of said member forming said opposite run and one such end being bent at said angle to said frame to form said locking pin.

4. In combination, a belt and a buckle therefore; said buckle comprising a frame; a flexible arcuate tongue hingedly mounted on one run of said frame; a locking pin extending at an angle to said frame from an opposite run of said frame; an aperture on the tongue adjacent the free end of said tongue and engageable with said locking pin, said pin and aperture being brought into axial registry by depressing and slightly flattening the arcuateness of said tongue, said tongue having an offset portion disposed at an acute angle thereto and which offset portion has an end curled about said one run of said frame whereby said tongue is hingedly mounted as set forth; said belt having an end fold about said opposite run and an elongated slot in said belt at said end fold through which said pin is disposed, said ofiset portion having a length at least equal to the thickness of said belt.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 68,204 Johnson Aug. 27, 1867 782,423 Shoenberger Feb. '14, 1905 929,709 Rempel Aug. 3, 1909 2,467,006 Bliss Apr. 12, 1949 2,591,787 David Apr. 8, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 9,702 Great Britain of 1915 498,317 Great Britain Ian. 6, 1939 

